Video: Bob Riley will shut Mobile Bay if Gulf oil spill draws near

View full size(AP Photo/Jay Reeves)A pelican lands on a piling with a natural gas rig in the background in Mobile Bay in Mobile, Ala., on Monday, May 3, 2010. Gov. Bob Riley said Wednesday he planned to seal Mobile Bay if oil drew near.

MOBILE, Ala. --
Alabama Gov. Bob Riley says he plans to seal off Mobile Bay by laying
booms under the Dauphin Island bridge and at the mouth of the bay if oil
from the huge spill in the Gulf of Mexico poses a threat.

Riley
said Wednesday he would seal those two routes that an oil slick might
enter the bay while still maintaining a gate-like path for ships using
the ship channel up and down the bay. He says that would seek to protect
both the bay environment and commerce at the port of Mobile.

Riley's
press secretary, Todd Stacy, says the plan would be put in place if it
appeared oil was about 72 hours away.

The plan was approved
Wednesday by the unified command after Riley spoke to reporters in
Mobile.